Lisa Marie Presley Still Edgy

March 29, 2005

Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis and the former wife of Michael Jackson, is no stranger to the media glare. A best-selling musician in her own right, Presley has been surprisingly candid about her personal life in her edgy and autobiographical music.

Her first album, "To Whom it May Concern," went gold, and her latest, "Now What," which is even edgier, will be in stores April 5.

Presley, 37, wrote all of the original songs on the album -- all of them autobiographical -- and covers the song "Dirty Laundry," a biting song about our culture's obsession with gossip, made famous by former Eagle Don Henley.

She told ABC News' Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" today that she was "making her own fingerprint" with this album.

'I Just Had to Go Through That'

Presley's ill-fated marriage to Michael Jackson left many people scratching their heads and wondering if the whole thing was some kind of bizarre publicity stunt.

But Presley says her feelings for Jackson at the time were totally real. "Everything I said before stands," she told Sawyer. "I think for whatever reason, I had to go through that. I don't know why, I just had to go through that."

Presley said she initially met Jackson when he invited her to talk about her music. She has said that he acted completely "normal."

In a "Primetime Live" interview with Sawyer in 2003, Presley said of Jackson: "It's unfortunate that not a lot of people know who he really is. He doesn't let anybody see it. He was very quick to, the first time I met him, sit me down and go, 'Listen, I'm not gay. I know you think this, I know you think that.' "

Presley also said in that 2003 interview she was quickly sucked in to Jackson's world. "I fell into this whole, 'You poor, sweet, misunderstood thing. I'm going to save you.' You know, I, I fell into that. I fell in love with him, I did," she said.

Presley told Sawyer today that she knew nothing about the case against Jackson, who is now on trial on charges that he molested a 13-year-old cancer survivor and plied the boy with alcohol. Jackson has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.

Presley, whose marriage to Jackson lasted 18 months, said today she does not follow the media coverage of his trial, nor has she spoken to Jackson in several years.

'Like Oil and Water'

On her new album, Presley also deals with her often-difficult relationship with her mother, Priscilla. In one song, called "Raven," she writes: "And I'll hear your stories/ That will fill your sad eyes/When you had raven hair. Hold your head up high/I know that I've been ruthless/I've been ruthless."

Presley told Sawyer that the song is about the evolution of her relationship with her mother and characterized the two of them as "oil and water."

"The toughest part was probably our choices in men along the way," said Presley. "That's kind of what got in the way of our relationship."

Presley has been married three times -- to Jackson, from 1994 to 1996; to actor Nicolas Cage in 2002, a union that lasted 108 days; and to musician Danny Keough, from 1988 to 1994. Keough is the father of her two children, Riley, 16, and Benjamin, 13.

Now, Presley says she and Priscilla have finally "blended," and gotten to a place where they accept each other for who they are.

Presley says her relationship with Riley, who is embarking on a modeling career, is remarkably calm.

"It's something I worked at in terms of not having had that with my mom, really focusing on being her mother and her friend. I try not to be too much of either," Presley said.

Presley also has a new man in her life, 43-year-old Michael Lockwood, a musician who produced her most recent album. She told Vanity Fair magazine he is "the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Presley will return to "Good Morning America" on May 15 to perform songs from the new album.